Michael Jordan: The Inspiring Story

of One of Basketball's Greatest

Players
An Unauthorized Biography

Copyright © 2016 by Clayton Geoffreys

All rights reserved. Neither this book nor any portion thereof may be
reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written
permission. Published in the United States of America.
Cover photo by Jason H. Smith is licensed under CC BY 2.0 / modified
from original
Disclaimer: The following book is for entertainment and informational
purposes only. The information presented is without contract or any type of
guarantee assurance. While every caution has been taken to provide
accurate and current information, it is solely the reader’s responsibility to
check all information contained in this article before relying upon it.
Neither the author nor publisher can be held accountable for any errors or
omissions. Under no circumstances will any legal responsibility or blame be
held against the author or publisher for any reparation, damages, or
monetary loss due to the information presented, either directly or indirectly.
This book is not intended as legal or medical advice. If any such specialized
advice is needed, seek a qualified individual for help.

Trademarks are used without permission. Use of the trademark is not

authorized by, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. All
trademarks and brands used within this book are used with no intent to
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This book is not sponsored by or affiliated with the National Basketball

Association, its teams, the players, or anyone involved with them.

Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: Childhood and Early Life
High School Years
Chapter 2: College Years at UNC
Freshman Year
Sophomore Year
Junior Year
Chapter 3: Michael’s NBA Career Part I
Chapter 4: Baseball in Birmingham
Chapter 5: Michael’s NBA Career Part II
Chapter 6: Michael’s NBA Career Part III
Chapter 7: Olympic Gold Standard
Chapter 8: Michael Jordan’s Legacy and Future
Final Word/About the Author
References

Foreword
When a person is first introduced to the game of basketball, few names of
prominent players are mentioned as quickly as that of Michael Jordan.
Michael Jordan is often considered one of, if not the greatest to ever play
the game of basketball. While LeBron James’ entry into the league in the
21st century has made the title of Greatest of All Time become contested,
few can dispute the impact that Jordan had on the game. Jordan’s dynamic
play throughout his career invigorated the Chicago Bulls dynasty as Jordan
led the franchise to six different Championship titles. Thank you for
downloading Michael Jordan: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball’s
Greatest Players. In this unauthorized biography, we will learn Michael’s
incredible life story and impact on the game of basketball. Hope you enjoy
and if you do, please do not forget to leave a review!
Also, check out my website at claytongeoffreys.com to join my exclusive
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Visit me at www.claytongeoffreys.com

Introduction
Some athletes from the city of Chicago, Illinois had their names quite
synonymous with their respective sport. They all found individual success
and are Hall of Famers in each of their leagues and sports. Some of them
even won a championship or two during their playing careers. These
athletes include Walter Payton of the National Football League’s Bears;
Ernie “Mr. Cub” Banks of the Major League Baseball, and; Bobby “Golden
Jet” Hull of the Blackhawks.
However, no other athlete had ever won as many accolades as Michael
Jordan during his 15 years in the National Basketball Association with the
Chicago Bulls. Even though he played two years of his career with the
Washington Wizards, Jordan will always be remembered for wearing the
red and black of Chicago, joining the list of aforementioned Chicago sports
legends.
Nearly 20 years after his final season with the Bulls, a bronze sculpture
depicting Jordan’s infamous “jumpman” pose stands in front of the United
Center – a place that many consider as the house that Jordan built. Many
people in Chicago will never forget his name as he brought six
championships to the city within the 1990s. Many fans still wear his iconic
number 23 uniform. Current stars like Derrick Rose are held to the same
expectations as the Bulls continue to return to the glory from 20 years ago.
There’s a reason why Jordan built up one of the greatest careers that anyone
has ever seen, not only in the NBA, but throughout professional sports. His
name also transcended into clothing, pop culture, movies, music, and other
sports like baseball. However, it all started with everything he’s
accomplished in basketball – with more than 32,000 points, six Most
Valuable Player awards, and several individual distinctions for both offense
and defense.
Jordan once said that basketball “has been everything. My place of refuge,
it’s the place I’ve always gone where I needed comfort and peace. It’s been
the site of intense pain and the most intense feelings of joy and
satisfaction.”
But his greatness extended far beyond individual titles and even NBA
Finals trophies. Jordan brought several memorable moments that NBA fans
still talk about today. Very few players have 50-point games, or play in a
pivotal championship game while dealing with a stomach virus, a
performance known as the “Flu Game.
The nicknames were endless – Air Jordan, for his dunking; His Airness,
and; Money, since he was dependable to score 20 or more points, more
often than not. He was also a sure-fire guarantee to give fans something
special night-in and night-out.
His scoring performances, title wins, and work ethic were all reasons why,
in the 1990s, everybody wanted to “be like Mike.”
 Chapter 1: Childhood and Early Life
The story of every legend starts from a beginning in humbler times, and for
Michael Jeffrey Jordan, his story began when he was born on February 17,
1963 in Brooklyn, New York, as the fourth of five children. A few years
after Michael was born, his parents, James and Delores, were worried as the
mean streets of Brooklyn brought temptations of drugs, alcohol and
violence. The family, thus, made the move to Wilmington, North Carolina,
a much smaller, quieter town and, perceived by some, to be better for
raising a family.
This would be the home of the Jordan family. His father, James, worked at
an electric plant and his mother, Delores, worked at a bank as they raised
their family. Michael had two older brothers, Larry and James; an older
sister, Delores, and; a younger sister; Roslyn. His parents focused on
showing their children an eagerness to work and achieve goals.
Early in life, Michael played sports for fun. However, he would often feel
discouraged because his older brother, Larry, would surpass him a good
majority of the time. His father also felt Larry, who was one year older than
Michael, had the real basketball talent in the family. Still, the two would
play and invent their own types of games in their giant backyard that
included about five acres of land and 13 additional acres owned by family.
Part of the reason Michael’s father felt Larry had the talent was because
Michael was not very tall in his younger years and there was not any sign of
that changing since no one in the family had ever reached six feet in height.
His other brother, James, was finding success in life, but not as an athlete.
He would actually join the US Army and would have a long career that
lasted until 2006, when he retired as a command sergeant major and was
part of the 35th Signal Brigade that fell under the XVIII Airborne Corps.
Jordan continued to play football, baseball, and basketball during his
childhood. Interestingly enough, his favorite sport was not basketball at the
time. Rather, he enjoyed baseball the most. When he was 12, he was named
a top player in his youth league for his play both on the pitching mound and
in the outfield. He was also named the most valuable player when he
represented his team in a state tournament.
Back then, Michael was not a young clean-cut boy. In fact, he was
suspended at age 12 for fighting and had been in other bouts in the halls up
until that point. His mother, Delores, did not let him sit at home and watch
TV when he was not at school. She took him with her to work and had him
sit in the car all day to read – within perfect view from the bank window.
After work, his mother took him to the library where she had a friend who
worked there and made sure that he did more reading.
As a student at DC Virgo Junior High School, the 15-year-old Michael was
an all-around athlete playing three sports. However, he was not someone
who was fanatical about any of them. No one imagined that he would have
a career in sports as he entered high school at Emsley A. Laney High
School, which was a bumpy road in itself but helped the young heir of NBA
royalty get started.
High School Years
The start of his high school basketball career in 1978 did not go as he
expected. He hoped to fill the extra roster spot for the Buccaneers’ playoff
season during his sophomore year. However, they went with his friend,
LeRoy Smith, and the decision made sense. Jordan was only five’ 10” and
his friend, Harvest Leroy Smith, was nearly six-and-a-half-feet tall, a good
trait for high school basketball. Jordan, on the other hand, was also just a
little above average in shooting and was mediocre on defense. He would be
sent to the junior varsity team by Coach Clifton Herring (also known as
“Pop”). Smith was the only sophomore who was going to join the varsity
team at Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina
While many know the legend of Jordan, not a lot of people know that Smith
had some success of his own in the sport. Eventually, the sophomore who
beat out the soon-to-be NBA champion would accept a four-year athletic
scholarship to play basketball for the University of North Carolina in
Charlotte – not the same as the team that wears the iconic “Tar Heel” blue
and white. Rather, it was the green and gold of the Charlotte 49ers and he
was able to be the senior captain that led all teams in the Sun Belt
Conference in rebounding. After that, Smith would spend the mid-1980s
and into early 1990s playing for various clubs in the Premier English
Basketball League, the German Basketball League, the United States
Basketball League, and the Japan Basketball League. While he was a team
leader in points, rebounds and blocks, he never made the job to the NBA
and he would find himself transitioning into the business world and is not
the vice president of sales and marketing for NBC Universal’s TV
Distribution chapter.
It was the loss of the varsity spot that caused things to turn around as Jordan
took the bad news and made it his motivation to improve for next year and
work harder on his basketball skills with the goal to make the varsity team.
He spent every day practicing with his brother Larry. Incidentally, he would
grow an additional five inches to become 6’ 3” between his sophomore and
junior years. His work ethic was evident as he was first in line at the
conditioning drills and he ran as hard as anyone, which coaches tend to
notice, more so, if it’s a player that they didn’t select and are happy to see
someone use it as motivation rather than taking it negatively and won’t
work as hard in practice.
During that sophomore season, Jordan improved greatly and was one of the
reasons people came to the JV games that were played a few hours prior to
the varsity match-up. These included a few games where he scored more
than 40 points each. The first of those games was on December 5, 1978,
where Jordan scored 45 points in the team’s 71-58 win over East Carteret.
Nearly two months later, Jordan would score 44 points to help the team
defeat Southern Wayne 88-67 on January 29, 1978. Fans were coming out
to see Jordan score a lot of points and was becoming the star player without
being on the varsity main event game that night – whether he was scoring
24 points against East Carteret on December 15, 1978, or only scoring six
points against New Hanover on February 16, 1979 – fans wanted to seeing
Jordan entertain with his skills and hustle to every play.
Despite the impressive numbers, Jordan was putting up and the attention he
was bringing for the junior varsity squad, he never got a call-up during his
sophomore year. It only inspired Jordan to become more competitive after
being cut from the varsity squad. It was as if he wanted to make sure it
would never happen again.
During his junior season with the varsity team, Jordan would average close
to 25 points per game for a 4-A team – North Carolina’s highest
classification. In his first game at the varsity level, Jordan scored 35 points
in an 81-79 win against Pender High School on November 30, 1979. A few
games later, Jordan would score 28 points in a loss to Southern Wayne on
December 11, 1979. He would then score 31 points against Kinston on
December 18, 1979, in a 69-57 win. After that, Jordan scored 29 and 30
points, respectively, against New Bern on December 21, 1979) and
Wadesboro-Bowman (December 27, 1979).
He would later score 40 points after hitting 17 total field goals in a losing
effort on January 2, 1980, against Goldsboro, 72-64. A few months later, he
would score a season high of 42 points on February 14, 1980 after hitting
18 field goals in a 73-60 victory over Eastern Wayne. This was right before
Jordan would help the Laney Buccaneers to the North Carolina Division II
playoffs where he would score 20 points in the team’s 73-60 win on
February 18, 1980, and another 18 points in the 40-35 loss to Southern
Wayne on February 20, 1980. At the end of the year, Jordan played 22 total
games and averaged 24.8 points per game as the Buccaneers finished with a
varsity record of 14-10. He would continue to improve and was starting to
collect a following of several college basketball programs in the region.
In the summer that followed, he dazzled college scouts while attending
Howard Garfinkel’s Five-Star Basketball Camp, often playing with other
top high school players one-on-one. He led his high school to the No. 1
state ranking in his final year with the Buccaneers and finished the season
with a record of 19-4 in the 1980-1981 season. They would win their first
five games, including Jordan scoring 33 points in the season opener on
November 26, 1980, against Pender in a 76-65 win, followed by a road win
over the same Pender team on December 5, 1980 where Jordan scored 27
points on 12 field goals. Jordan would score another 21 points in the
Buccaneers’ December 9, 1980 win over Southern Wayne, 57-46, and 28
points in a close 73-71 victory on the road at Hoggard on December 12,
1980.
As the season continued, Jordan reached the 30-point mark to a total of six
times that was highlighted by his performance on February 3, 1981 where
he would finish a 64-56 win over Kinston with 39 points after making 11
field goals and 17 out of 19 free throws. Just like last season, the
Buccaneers would be led by Jordan to the state’s Division II playoffs that
started with a 55-28 dominant win on February 23, 1981 over Eastern
Wayne. Jordan scored 27 points in that game just three days after scoring 26
points against the same team in a 70-38 win to end the regular season. But
just like the previous season, Jordan and his Laney teammates were unable
to win the state championship after a 56-52 loss to New Hanover in the
conference title game on February 25, 1981. It was a game where Jordan
scored 26 points after eight field goals and making 10 out of 18 from the
foul line.
As a senior in 1981, Jordan was selected to the All-American team as a
senior after averaging a triple-double – 29.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 10.1
assists per game. Jordan also joined his school’s 1,000-point club with
1,165 points in his senior season. But Jordan wasn’t done with high school
basketball as he was part of a couple of national all-star games. It started on
March 26, 1981 during the McDonald’s Capital Classic in Landover,
Maryland where Jordan was part of the United team that defeated Capital,
91-85. Jordan would finish with 14 points after making six out of 12 field
goals in a game that also showed Jordan being on the opposite side of
names like Patrick Ewing and Lorenzo Gill.
But a few days later, Jordan would receive a chance to play in the annual
All-American game in Wichita, Kansas. It was a consolation game of sorts
for the young Jordan who scored 30 points after making 13 out of 19 field
goals (68.4%) and received the game’s Most Valuable Player award after
making the final two free throws with 11 seconds left to clinch the win for
the East, 96-95, over the West. In the summer months before going to play
college basketball, Jordan was part of a South All-Star team that competed
in the National Sports Festival in Syracuse, New York that ran July 25-29.
Jordan’s team finished 2-2 in the four games, including an 18-point
performance in the South’s 94-93 win over the East on July 26, 1981.
Jordan also played baseball in high school where he pitched 45 consecutive
innings without allowing a run. His talents attracted offers from not only
college basketball, but also baseball programs at various Division I schools
that featured Duke University, the University of South Carolina, Syracuse
University and the University of Virginia. Nevertheless, he would
eventually accept a scholarship at the University of North Carolina. He was
one of the nation’s top prospects who would join a Tar Heels program led
by legendary college coach Dean Smith.
On a side note, Jordan accepted the UNC scholarship and chose cultural
geography as his college major, which is where one studies things in culture
and how they adjust to their specific locations and other factors, like
religion, language, government, and economy. While this was likely not just
any easy major to coast through classes for eligibility, but there’s a good
chance Jordan was hoping basketball was going to work out for him and his
studies were more for a hobby-like interest.
 Chapter 2: College Years at UNC
Freshman Year
Jordan had a very good year as a young star out of Wilmington, North
Carolina, which is about 162 miles north of the University of North
Carolina campus in Chapel Hill. It was another 879 miles from where the
newest Tar Heel would make his first step in establishing himself as a
clutch-shooter in key moments, starting with his college debut in the Tar
Heels’ 74-67 win over the University of Kansas Jayhawks during the season
opener on November 28, 1981. While Jordan missed his first shot as a
college basketball player, he would make the next three as he scored 12
points while making five out of 10 shots from the field. It would only take a
few games before Jordan surpassed the 20-point mark pretty quickly as a
Tar Heel with 22 points after making 11 out of 15 field goals in the team’s
78-70 win over Tulsa in what would be his season-high in scoring for the
season.
In Jordan’s first year at Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels finished the regular
season with the No. 1 ranking in both the Coaches and Associated Press
polls after a 32-2 record, 12-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team
would go three for three en route to a conference championship win over
third-ranked Virginia 47-45 in the Greensboro Coliseum on March 7, 1982.
The Tar Heels would continue their success during the 1982 NCAA
National Championship tournament and started with a second round game
against James Madison on March 13, 1982, in a game where Jordan made
about three out of eight field goals (37.5%) for a finish of six rebounds and
one rebound in the team’s 52-50 win. It was a game where Sam Perkins
stood out among all players with 17 points and 10 rebounds after shooting
seven out of 13 from the field, in addition to James Worthy’s 15 points.
In the Sweet 16 round of the tournament on March 19, 2013, they won, 74-
69, over Alabama where the starting five was able to step up with little
support with two points coming off of the bench. All of North Carolina’s
starters scored double figures led by Worthy and Matt Doherty each scoring
16 points followed by Perkins’ 15 and Jimmy Black contributing 14 points.
Jordan made three out of his six field goal attempts (50%) while making all
five of his free throws. He also added three rebounds and three assists to his
stat line.
Jordan would also score double digits in North Carolina’s Elite Eight
matchup with the Villanova Wildcats, who were a third-seed with 22 wins,
on March 21, 1982. Jordan was able to convert five out of his nine field
goals (55.6%) and five out of seven attempts from the foul line to finish
with 15 points to be the Tar Heels’ leading scorer in a 70-60 win to help
North Carolina find themselves in the Final Four that was played in front of
more than 50,000 fans at the Louisiana Superdome located in New Orleans,
Louisiana along with the Louisville Cardinals (23-10), the Houston Cougars
(25-8), and the Georgetown Hoyas (30-7), who were close to the Final Four
a few years ago in 1980 and were a favorite among several fans, experts,
and writers.
On March 27, 2013, the Tar Heels were able to defeat the University of
Houston 68-63. This team featured future NBA legends Clyde Drexler and
Hakeem Olajuwon. In this game, Jordan’s game continued to evolve after
making seven out of 14 field goals and making all four free throws to finish
with 18 points along with five rebounds and two assists. The only Tar Heel
who scored more than Jordan was Perkins with 25 points, who made 81.8%
of his field goals (nine out of 11) with a perfect seven out of seven foul
shots, and 10 rebounds. On a side note from the Houston side of the court,
Drexler had 17 points while Olajuwon, who was a freshman, scored only
two points after making just one of three field goals. However, it was early
in his basketball career and he had better games leading up to his own
career in the NBA. the win over Houston, however, helped set up a dream
match-up between Georgetown and North Carolina.
North Carolina trailed Georgetown, 62-61, with 32 seconds left in front of
61,612 fans during the NCAA Championship game at the Louisiana
Superdome in New Orleans. Both sides featured players who would have
great careers in the National Basketball Association a few years later. The
Hoyas featured Patrick Ewing, another freshman who scored 23 points,
shooting 10 out of 15 from the field (66.7%) and Eric “Sleepy” Floyd, who
had 18 points of his own. On the other hand, the Tar Heels had James
Worthy, Sam Perkins and the talented freshman, Jordan.
No team led by more than a few points down the stretch and the Tar Heels
were able to grab the ball from an inbound pass. Head coach, Dean Smith,
had never won a national championship for 21 years since taking charge of
the program after spending a combined eight years as an assistant at
Kansas, Air Force, and North Carolina. He drew up a play that will put the
ball in Jordan’s hands, trusting him to take the shot if he found himself
open.
Teammate, Jimmy Black, found Jordan on the left wing, who hit the go-
ahead jumper with 17 seconds for the 63-62 lead – possibly the most
important field goal that Jordan made amongst the 7 out of 13 field goal he
made that night (53.8%). Georgetown would then turn the ball over, which
led to a foul on Worthy, who missed both free throws. Fortunately, the
Hoyas had no timeouts and missed a desperation heave. Smith’s decision to
give the ball to the youngest Jordan, rather than to Worthy or Perkins,
worked for the best and it became the turning point in Jordan’s basketball
career.
Jordan had a pretty good season in his first year at UNC – 13.5 points per
game over 34 games and shooting 53.4% from the field. Jordan finished the
1981-1982 season as the ACC Freshman of the Year but his big moment
came during that National Championship game in the Louisiana Superdome
on March 29, 1982.

Sophomore Year
In his sophomore season, Jordan finished with an average of 20.0 points per
game in 36 games and shot more than 53% from the field. He also increased
his rebounding average from 4.4 per game as a freshman to five and a half
per game. The Tar Heels finished the year 28-8 with a 12-2 record in the
ACC. However, the Tar Heels were unable to make a repeat as the ACC
tournament champions after losing to North Carolina State 91-84 in
overtime on March 12, 1983. They finished as the eighth ranked team in the
nation, earning a second-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
It was a rough start to the season after starting third in the polls and falling
to 15th after losing 78-74 to St. John’s University and 64-60 to Missouri.
After a 3-3 start, UNC would win 18 games in a row, and while they lost
three games in a row to Villanova, Maryland and North Carolina State, they
finished up the regular season with four straight ACC conference games,
including a 105-81 win over rival Duke. The Tar Heels were then making
an appearance in the ACC Conference tournament to attempt to earn their
conference’s automatic bid in the National Championship. Things were
looking good after earning a blowout victory over the Clemson Tigers on
March 11, 1983, but they were unable to continue that momentum when
they lost to their in-state rivals, the North Carolina State Wolfpack, in a 91-
84 overtime loss on March 12, 1983.
While the Tar Heels were unable claim the ACC’s one automatic berth to
the championship tournament, North Carolina would return to the NCAA
tournament as a team that earned an at-large bid, which is given to a team
that finishes 26-7 against the tough competition found throughout the entire
Atlantic Coast Conference.
One year after winning the national championship as the top seed overall,
the North Carolina Tar Heels found themselves as the second seed coming
out of the East Region. While it felt like a familiar place, being a favorite in
their tournament opening game, they also found themselves up against a
familiar foe, James Madison University, which only lost by two against
North Carolina in their second round game in the 1982 tournament. The
final result was the same as in 1983. While the score was different with the
Tar Heels taking the win, 68-49, on March 19, 1983, Jordan finished the
game with six out of eight field goals (75%) and made all three free throws
from the foul line. Likewise, he added another three rebounds and three
assists to support Perkins’ team leading 18 points.
The Tar Heels would follow that up with a win in the Sweet 16 against
third-seeded Ohio State on March 25, 1983 and defeat the Buckeyes with a
final score of 64-51. Although Jordan was the leading scorer among the
North Carolina blue and whites, he struggled from the field, making only 5
out of 15 shots (33.3%) while making seven out of nine free throws. Jordan
also added seven rebounds to his stat line, five of which came while he was
playing defense against the Buckeyes who made only 44% of their total
shots.
The Tar Heels were looking strong at the right time and experts were
starting to wonder, second guessing what they previously projected early on
in the month. However, the Tar Heels would end up losing to the University
of Georgia, 82-77, on March 27, 1983. Despite the loss, Jordan showed a lot
more of his potential after making 11 out of 23 field goals (47.8%) and four
out of five free throws to have a final statistical line of 26 points and six
rebounds. However, the Bulldogs were led by players like James Banks’s
20 points, and Vern Fleming and Gerald Crosby each scoring 18 points.
Georgia would fall to the eventual champions from North Carolina State in
the next round, the same ACC team that prevented the Tar Heels from
advancing in the conference tournament earlier that month. While the team
didn’t win the National Championship, Jordan found that he had a slight
improvement in his shooting efficiency. From shooting 53.5% field goals,
Jordan would have per game averages of 20 points (a huge jump from the
13.5 points per game in his freshman season) with 5.5 rebounds, 2.2 steals,
1.6 assists, and just under one blocked shot per game. The individual
numbers were good enough to help Jordan find a spot in the first-team All
American list.
Junior Year
Jordan would play just as well in his junior year and joined the NCAA All-
American First Team again with 19.6 points per game average and shooting
a tad over 55% from the field in a 31-game season. He would be named the
winner of the Dr. James Naismith Award for being the outstanding male
basketball player by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, an award named in honor of
the inventor of basketball. Jordan also received the John Wooden Award
that same year by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Such award was named in
honor of a legendary player and coach who earned a total of 11 NCAA
championships.
Early on, Jordan would score 28 points off the bat in a non-conference
game at home against Chattanooga on November 11, 1983 after making 13
out of 17 field goals to lead the team. He would regularly score beyond the
20-point mark in the season with 19 games where he scored at least 20
points. His best individual performance came on February 2, 1984, in a 95-
71 home win over North Carolina State where Jordan’s 32 points came
from making 12 out of 18 field goals and another eight out of 11
conversions from the foul line. He would be close to that 30-point mark a
couple more times, including the team’s home game win against Louisiana
State, 90-79, on January 29, 1984 after scoring 29 points from a similar 12
for 18 from the field and making all five free throw attempts.
Jordan made plenty of highlights throughout the season, including a
breakaway dunk with two seconds left after Perkins blocked a shot in a 74-
62 win at the University of Maryland on January 12, 1984. He looked at the
clock before making the exclamation point against the Terrapins with a
windmill dunk that acted as a dagger in the hearts of their ACC rivals.
Jordan would also earn the ACC Player of the Year, the Adolph Rupp
Trophy, and the US Basketball Writers Association’s College Player of the
Year as North Carolina once again finished with the top ranking in both
polls after an overall 28-3 record and undefeated in ACC action (14-0) and
it looked as if they were going to have a shot at the ACC’s automatic berth
into the NCAA National Championship tournament after defeating the
Clemson Tigers on March 8, 1984, 78-66. However, North Carolina would
once again fail to win the ACC Tournament after being upset by long-time
rival Duke in the semifinal round, 77-75, on March 10, 1984. Being the top-
ranked team in the AP and Coaches’ polls for most of the season would
likely guarantee a team a spot in the championship tournament, which led to
the Tar Heels receiving the number one seed in the East Regional.
On March 17, 1984, the Tar Heels would rebound from that tough loss to
Duke in the ACC tournament by entering the opening round of the NCAA
National Championship Tournament by defeating Temple, 77-66. This was
a game when Jordan scored 27 points as one of four Tar Heels who scored
in double digits (Perkins,12; Kenny Smith, 11, and; Brad Daugherty, 10).
Jordan’s overall shooting skills were on display as he converted 11 of his 15
field goals (73.3%) to go along with making five out of seven free throws.
Jordan also collected six rebounds against the Owls. It was a good game to
advance to the Sweet 16 Round, but North Carolina would lose in the
second round to the fourth-seeded Indiana Hoosiers, 72-68. Jordan didn’t
have his best game as he only made 6 out of 14 shots from around the court
to lead to scoring only 13 points in the game. His teammate, Perkins, led the
team with 26 points and nine rebounds in a near double-double.
It would be Jordan’s final game with the Tar Heels as he would make the
decision to forego his senior season and enter the 1984 NBA Draft. While
returning to the Tar Heels would have made North Carolina one of the
odds-on favorites to make another run for a national championship in 1985,
especially when considering that Jordan finished the season with 19.6
points per game with averages of 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.6 steals, and
1.1 blocked shots.
It would turn out to be one of the most talented drafts with Hakeem
Olajuwon being selected first overall by the Houston Rockets, followed by
Sam Bowie to the Portland Trail Blazers, and Jordan, at third, by the
Chicago Bulls. The entire class of 1984 also included Charles Barkley
(fifth, Philadelphia 76ers), Alvin Robertson (seventh, San Antonio Spurs),
Otis Thorpe (ninth, Kansas City Stars), Kevin Wills (eleventh, Atlanta
Hawks), and John Stockton (sixteenth, Utah Jazz) – the latter being
someone whom Jordan would face a couple of times with championship
implications.
Although he moved on to the Windy City and into inarguably one of the
greatest NBA careers, he took his UNC light blue and white with him.
Jordan was listed in Men’s Fitness magazine as one of the more
superstitious professional athletes. Apparently, the Chicago Bull legend
would wear his UNC shorts underneath his Bulls uniform in every game
throughout his 15-year career.
While Jordan would continue his basketball career in the Windy City, it’s
worth noting that he would return to the UNC campus in Chapel Hill, North
Carolina to complete his Bachelor’s Degree with a major in geography. He
wasn’t the typical student in North Carolina as he was making highlight
plays in the NBA while taking a variety of college courses that included,
but not limited to, Elementary Portuguese, Map Interpretation, and
Changing Human Environment. He probably thought that it was a great
idea to finish his college education in the event that something happened
that would cause a major setback or a premature end to his professional
basketball career. However, that wouldn’t be a problem and he wouldn’t
have to use his degree to find work.
 Chapter 3: Michael’s NBA Career Part I
Before we talk about the earliest years of Jordan’s NBA career, it’s
important to note that if it were any other draft class in NBA history, Jordan
could have possibly been a first overall selection and not the third as what
happened when he was chosen by the Chicago Bulls in 1984. The main
reason why Jordan’s name wasn’t called by the Houston Rockets or the
Portland Trail Blazers was because they didn’t need a point guard. There
were some experts who felt that it was understandable for the Rockets to
select Hakeem Olajuwon and the Trail Blazers to select Sam Bowie because
each team was lacking a big man to bring a dominant presence at center.
Portland’s general manager, Stu Inman, made several comments stating that
he believed that Bowie was the better overall selection than Jordan at the
time. This was not because Bowie was better, but because they felt they
already had someone with similar skills to Jordan in Clyde Drexler. Now,
it’s highly unlikely that anyone can accurately predict how good someone is
going to be before they even play in their first game in any professional
sport – especially in the NBA. Therefore, one cannot really think too
negatively about the comments from Inman, but he will most probably say
now that it was a decision that didn’t work out. Bowie played 10 seasons in
the NBA but he didn’t do as well as many had hoped he would coming out
of the University of Kentucky. This was mainly due to several leg and foot
injuries that hampered a potentially great career for the 7’1” center.
On October 26, 1984, Michael Jordan wore his iconic No. 23 with the
Chicago Bulls against the Washington Bullets in a 109-93 win. He scored
16 points with six rebounds and seven assists. While it was a decent night
for his first game in the NBA, he only made five field goals out of 16
attempts. His veteran teammates led the team, such as Orlando Woolridge,
who scored 28, followed by Quintin Dailey with 25 points. Jordan would
begin to find his groove and scored 21 points the next night in a losing
effort, 108-106, to the Milwaukee Bucks. He also added five assists and
five rebounds. Woolridge was the Bulls’ leading scorer that night with 29
points.
Two nights later, Jordan would collect 37 against the Bucks in Chicago
Stadium in a game where he converted 13 out of 24 field goals (54.2
percent) and made 11 out of 13 free throws (84.6 percent) during the team’s
116-110 win on October 29, 1984. He also added five assists and four
rebounds in a game. Woolridge, on the other hand, would also score 30
points in the game. There was developing hope that the duo of Woolridge
and Jordan was going to lead to bigger things. Woolridge was also enjoying
his best season in Chicago as he went from 19.3 points per game in the
previous season to nearly 23 points per game in the 1984-1985 season.
While Woolridge was seeing his numbers improve from how he did in his
first three seasons after being drafted in 1981 out of the University of Notre
Dame in nearby Indiana, Jordan was also growing more and more into his
role as both a shooting guard and a second small forward to compliment the
rest of the Bulls’ roster. On November 8, 1984, Jordan made a season high
of 33 points after making 15 out of 22 field goals (68.2%) to go along with
eight rebounds and five assists in the Bulls’ 121-106 road victory against
the New York Knicks. But that season-high total wouldn’t last very long.
Later in the season, he would surpass the 40-point benchmark for the first
time in a 120-117 win over the San Antonio Spurs on November 13, 1984.
Jordan scored 45 points along with 10 rebounds and four assists for the first
of many double-doubles in his NBA career.
His Airness would reach this mark four other times in his rookie season,
starting with 45 points after making 20 out of 33 field goals, which was the
most shots he took during the regular season, in a double-double with 11
assists as the Bulls defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, 112-108, on
December 27, 1984. Jordan would score another 45 points in a near triple-
double with 10 assists and eight rebounds on January 26, 1985, in a 117-
104 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. This individual performance was only
a week after Jordan scored 42 points in a losing effort back in New York,
119-113, on January 5, 1985. It was a game where Jordan would convert 16
out of 25 field goals for 64% and made 10 out of 11 free throws for an
efficient night on offense.
Jordan would also score 41 points in one of his first meetings against Larry
Bird and the Boston Celtics on February 5, 1985, in a 110-106 loss. Bird
would score 27 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists as part of a team
win. Jordan led all players after making 14 out of 25 field goals (56%), 13
out of 14 free throws, 12 rebounds and seven assists. One week later, Jordan
would have his best game of the season at home on February 12, 1985
during a 139-126 victory over the Detroit Pistons. He scored 19 out of 31
field goals (61.3%) and made 11 out of 13 shots from the foul line for a
total of 49 points. Jordan would also add 15 rebounds and five assists.
In addition to his high point totals throughout an impressive rookie season,
Jordan also had 17 double-doubles. He would also have three triple-
doubles, which is hard for any player to do in the NBA, let alone someone
in his first year in the league. On January 14, 1985, Jordan had 35 points to
go along with 15 assists and 14 rebounds in a 122-113 win over the Denver
Nuggets. A few months later, on March 1, 1985, Jordan had a stat line of 21
points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to support Woolridge’s team leading 28
points in a 109-104 win against the New York Knicks. Less than three
weeks later on March 17, 1985, Jordan helped the Bulls defeat the
Milwaukee Bucks, 119-117, after scoring 32 points after making 11 out of
25 shots from the field. He showed he was willing to distribute the ball for
scoring opportunities with 16 assists to go along with 11 rebounds for a
Chicago team that had four players scoring into double figures, three of
which had more than 20 points (Jordan, 32; Quintin Dailey, 26, and;
Woolridges, 21).
Eventually he would finish the season with an average of 28.2 points per
game, along with averages of 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.4 steals, and
nearly one block during his first year in the NBA. Jordan was invited to be
a starting player for the Eastern Conference in the 1985 NBA All-Star
Game on February 10, 198 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. In
front of more than 43,000 basketball fans, Jordan took the court on the same
team as Philadelphia’s Julius Erving, Boston’s Larry Bird, and Detroit’s
Isiah Thomas to square off against top stars like the Los Angeles Lakers’
duo of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. Jordan would play a total
of 22 minutes and would make two out of nine field goals along with three
out of four free throws for seven points, six rebounds, and two assists.
However, the East would fall to the West, 140-129.
Chicago finished 38-44 in a season where they would finish in third place in
the Central Division. They lost more than half of their games and clinched
the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls would fall in the first
round to the Milwaukee Bucks 3-1 in a best-of-five series. Still, Jordan
received the season’s NBA Rookie of the Year award for his performance in
the regular season. It also helped that he was playing very well in the series
lost to the division rival, Bucks. In the first game on April 19, 1985, Jordan
would lead the team with 23 points after making only seven out of 19 field
goals (36.8 percent) in the team’s 109-100 loss where he made 9 out of his
10 free throws while collecting 10 assists, four rebounds, and three steals on
defense.
Milwaukee would also take the second game on April 21, 1985, 122-115.
Jordan had a better game individually with 9 out of 17 field goals (52.9%)
and 11 out of 12 foul shots to go along with 12 assists, four rebounds, and
two steals in 43 minutes of time on the court. Jordan would score another
35 points in the Game 3 victory in Chicago on April 24, 1985, 109-107.
Jordan made 12 out of 26 field goals, 11 out of 16 free throws, eight
rebounds, seven assists, four steals, and blocked one shot to lead the Bulls
over the Bucks. The series ended after the Bucks defeated the Bulls in
Chicago, 105-97, on April 26, 1985. In this game, Jordan made 29 points
with 17 of 20 free throws. He, however, struggled from the field and made
only 6 out of 16 attempts (37.5%). Jordan finished the Game 4 performance
with seven rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots, and two steals.
The signs of a star were showing early and would continue to shine
throughout his career. At the time, fans and experts could only imagine
what to expect next. While his rookie season was as strong as any Hall of
Fame star in NBA history, Jordan had a lot of eyes on him when the team
opened their season hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 25, 1985.
Jordan made 13 out of 16 field goals in 39 minutes to finish with 29 points
and 12 rebounds in Chicago’s 116-115 win. Jordan and the Bulls would
follow that up the next night in a 121-118 win over the Detroit Pistons on
October 26, 1985 where Jordan would finish with 33 points despite only
making 9 out of 24 field goals and 15 out of 16 free throws.
Jordan’s sophomore season in the NBA was cut short due to a broken foot
in the third game, which cost him 64 games. He would return on March 1,
1986, in a 125-116 loss to Milwaukee. In the first six games back from the
foot injury, Jordan averaged only about 15 and a half minutes while
converting only 35.9 percent of his field goal attempts for an average of
14.7 points per game. Jordan would start building up to his full potential as
he would score 30 points in the team’s 102-97 win against the Atlanta
Hawks on April 5, 1986. He would hit the 30-point mark in two of the
team’s final three games of the regular season.
Even with the injury and a 30-52 record, the Bulls still qualified for the
playoffs. Chicago was the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference,
just one game better than the ninth-place Cleveland Cavaliers and about
nine games from the sixth and seventh seeded Washington Bullets and New
Jersey Nets who both finished at 39-43. At the time, it was the fifth worst
record of any time to enter the playoffs in league history. Jordan was
starting to hit his stride just in time for the first round series against the top-
seeded Boston Celtics, who had the best record in the league with 67 wins
and 15 losses. There were a lot of people who questioned if the Bulls would
provide any competition for the Celtics. While the Bulls were swept in three
games of the best-of-five series in the first round of the Eastern Conference
Playoffs, Jordan had some great individual performances that started to add
to the early legacy of His Airness.
While Boston would sweep the series, Jordan showed his skills against a
talented Boston squad that featured five Hall of Fame players in Larry Bird,
Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson, and Bill Walton. In the first
game on April 17, 1986, on the road against Boston, Jordan made 18 out of
36 field goals and 13 out of 15 foul shots lead all players with 49 points in
43 minutes. However, the Celtics would win 123-104. The Bulls would
force the Celtics into two overtime periods in a 135-131 loss. Jordan was
given plenty of opportunities where he would make 22 out of his 41 field
goals (53.7%) and converting 19 out of 21 free throws to finish with 63
points in 53 minutes along with six rebounds, five assists, three steals and
two blocked shots. Boston had six players score in double digits, led by
Bird’s 36 points to give them the 2-0 series lead. Boston would then finish
the sweep in Chicago on April 22, 1986 with a 122-104 win. It wasn’t
Jordan’s best game, but maybe fatigue was starting to set in as he made only
8 out of 18 field goals (44.4%) for 19 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists
for a near triple-double. But the Celtics were too strong with McHale
scoring 31 points, followed by Ainge’s 20 and Bird’s 19 points with eight
assists, and six rebounds.
Jordan recovered completely from his foot injury before the 1986-1987
season where he played all 82 games en route to becoming only the second
player in NBA history to score 3,000 points in a season other than Wilt
Chamberlin – also known as Mr. 100. Jordan averaged a league-high 37.1
points per game on 48.2 percent shooting from the field. There were two
games where Jordan would score 61 points. This was on March 4, 1987
against the Detroit Pistons and again on April 16, 1987 against the Atlanta
Hawks. Jordan would also score an additional five games with 50 or more
points, including 58 points after making 16 out of 25 from the field and 26
of 27 from the foul line in the team’s 128-113 win over the New Jersey Nets
on February 26, 1987. As the season progressed, Jordan would continue to
improve in his offensive efficiency with a field goal percentage of 70.4 in
Chicago’s 116-95 win on April 12, 1987. Jordan made 19 out of 27 from the
field for his best percentage of the season to score 53 points to go along
with eight assists and four steals.
In addition to his offense, Jordan became the first player in history to record
200 steals and 100 blocks in a season that would lead to Jordan being
selected to the 1987 NBA All-Star Game on February 8, 1987 at the
Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. Chicago would finish with a record of
40-42, which was good for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
However, they were swept by the Celtics again in the first round. Jordan
would average 35.7 points during the three games against Boston while also
averaging about seven rebounds, six assists, and two steals to lead the Bulls.
If you thought Jordan was reaching his scoring potential, you would be
mistaken as he would follow up that year with 35 points per game in the
1987-1988 season where he would once again lead the league in steals, the
first of three seasons that he would hold that title and won the NBA
Defensive Player of the Year. Jordan would have 13 double-doubles and
two triple-doubles in the season, including a 36-point performance with 10
rebounds and 10 assists on January 16, 1988 in a win over the Detroit
Pistons. On April 3, 1988, Jordan would have his best offensive game
where he would finish with 59 points after converting on 21 of 27 field
goals (77.8%) and 17 of 19 free throws (89.5%).
The Bulls were able to advance past the first round of the playoffs by
defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers, winning the series, 3-2. Jordan would
average more than 45 points per game, including 50 points in Game 1 on
April 28, 1988 and 55 points on May 1, 1988. However, they were
eliminated by the Detroit Pistons after losing the best-of-seven series 4-1 to
a Detroit team led by Isaiah Thomas and a group of physical players called
the “Bad Boys.” Jordan did not put as large scoring numbers like he did
against Cleveland but he would still average 27.4 points per game. His best
game was during Chicago’s lone win on May 12, 1988, in a 105-95 win.
Jordan would make 14 out of his 22 field goal attempts to score 36 points
while collecting 11 rebounds.
While Jordan continued to have big games throughout his early career, he
was lacking a defining playoff moment up until this point. There were even
doubts of his ability to ever win a championship despite showing signs of
being one of the best individual talents in all of professional sports.
However, every young star destined to become a legend usually has at least
a few buzzer-beater moments. Jordan had several, starting with his first
buzzer beater in Game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals.
It was a classic game where Jordan hit a jump shot with six seconds left to
give the Bulls a 99-98 lead, followed by a quick layup by Cleveland’s Craig
Ehlo for a 100-99 lead with three seconds left. Chicago would use a timeout
to create an inbound opportunity where Jordan bounced off Ehlo and
pushed another Cavalier to get open and received the inbound pass to shoot
from the foul line for the 101-100 win. Those two points were the most
remembered of his 44 points that night at the Coliseum at Richfield in Ohio.
The lasting image from that night was Jordan jumping in an emphatic
celebration, pumping his fist while jumping in the air as Ehlo fell to the
ground in despair only a few feet away. It was one of the first of several
great moments that Jordan provided to fans in Chicago. Defeating
Cleveland would be a common trend as the Bulls and Cavaliers were
division rivals in the Eastern Conference and played each other six times
each season. In a thrilling overtime win, 117-113, on March 28, 1990,
Jordan scored 69 points on the road. Shooting 62.2% from the field, Jordan
also made 21-of-23 free throws with 18 rebounds, six assists, four steals,
and a block, for good measure.
The Bulls would eventually lose in the Eastern Conference Finals in seven
games to the Detroit Pistons, a familiar roadblock, in seven games. But this
would be the last time Chicago would play second fiddle to the Pistons as
they would advance to the NBA Finals the next season. The championships
would come in bunches of three. The first came in the 1990-1991 season
where the Bulls dominated with a 61-21 record that showed Jordan
averaging 31.5 points per game and 53.9 percent of his field goals
throughout all 82 games. Jordan’s best overall game was on December 27,
1990 where he scored 42 points while collecting 14 rebounds and seven
assists in a 128-113 win over the Golden State Warriors. Jordan once again
earned himself a spot on the All-Star team and this time, helped the East
defeat the West, 116-114, on February 10, 1991, in Charlotte, North
Carolina. Jordan was 10 of 25 en route to scoring 26 points, five rebounds,
and five assists.
The Bulls were the top seed in the Eastern Conference and started it off
with a three-game sweep of the New York Knicks that began on April 25,
1991, with Jordan scoring 28 points after making 8 out of 15 field goals
while collecting another six rebounds and six assists. He would score
another 26 points after nine of 16 field goals in a more defensive battle to
defeat the Knicks 89-79 on April 28, 1991. In the third game on April 30,
1991, Jordan would get a lot more opportunities by making 14 out of 28
from the field to finish New York with 33 points, seven assists and six
steals.
Jordan would continue to lead the Bulls through the conference semifinals
against the Philadelphia 76ers, starting out with 29 points in each of the first
two games the Bulls would win. Philadelphia would get one win, 99-97, in
the series on May 10, 1991, despite Jordan leading everyone on the court
with 36 points and converting on 20 out of 34 field goals. After winning
Game 4, Jordan would help the Bulls clinch the series after scoring 38
points and collecting 19 rebounds and seven assists in a 100-95 win on May
14, 1991. Chicago then found themselves pitted against the familiar foe that
has kept them out of the NBA Finals – the Detroit Pistons.
But this team wasn’t the same as the past years where the Bad Boys would
dominate the NBA. The Bulls would make quick work of their Central
Division rival in a four-game sweep where Jordan would average just under
30 points per game while converting on 53.5 percent of his field goals. One
of the highlights of the Eastern Conference Finals was on May 21, 1991
when Jordan scored 35 points from 10 of 20 field goals and 13 of 14 free
throws for the 105-97 victory. This was followed up with Jordan going 11
of 19 from the field and 11 of 12 from the foul line to score 33 points in a
113-107 win on May 25, 1991, to give the Bulls a 3-0 series lead. Chicago
would close it out on the road on May 27, 1991, in a 115-94 win in Detroit
where Jordan would score 29 points, followed by Scottie Pippen’s 23 points
and 10 assists.
After losing Game 1 of the 1991 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles
Lakers, Jordan elevated his game in a 107-86 victory by collecting 33
points, seven rebounds, 13 assists, two steals, and one block. He also made
15 of 18 shots, 13 consecutively, and a field goal percentage of 83.3. This
game is remembered for Marv Albert’s play-by-play call of “a spectacular
move by Michael Jordan!” as Jordan drove to the hoop and changed hands
midair in what was considered an iconic NBA Finals moment. The win
sparked the momentum needed to help the Bulls win the series 4-1 against a
team led by Hall of Fame players James Worthy and Magic Johnson. Not a
bad start for the first of two three-peat runs for Jordan and the team.
Jordan continued to show that he was truly one of the best the very next
season as the Bulls returned to the championship series after a regular
season record of 67-15. This time, they faced the Clyde Drexler and the
Portland Trail Blazers. Jordan made an early impact with 35 points in the
first half during a 122-89 win at home in Game 1. Jordan’s amazing first
half was highlighted by six field goals from behind the arc, the last of which
became famous as Jordan turned towards the broadcast table and shrugged
to indicate his surprise. Chicago went on a 22-6 run to take a 66-51 halftime
lead and continued the momentum throughout.
While the Bulls dropped the second game in overtime, 115-104, they took
Games Three, Four, and Five with 46 points in the series clinching game
where Chicago won 119-106 in Portland, Oregon. Jordan was 14-of-23
from the field and 16-of-19 from the free throw line.
In another clutch performance, Jordan scored 55 points in a 111-105 win in
Game 4 of the 1993 NBA Finals to put the Phoenix Suns in a 3-1 hole.
Back then, it was a tie for the second most points in NBA Finals history.
Jordan made 21-of-37 shots with seven rebounds and four assists and only
sat on the bench for 2 minutes out of the game’s 48 minutes.
Jordan averaged 41 points per game in the six-game series, which includes
42 points in Game 2 (Chicago won 111-108) and 33 points in Game 6
(Chicago won 99-98) as the Bulls defeated the Suns, 4-2, for Chicago’s
third championship in a row. It was also the third NBA Finals Most
Valuable Player award for Jordan, who led the league in steals once again
that year.
In his first nine seasons, Jordan had led the NBA for six straight seasons
from 1987 to 1993 with averages of 35.0 points, 32.5 points, 33.6 points,
31.5 points, 30.1 points, and 32.6 points per game. He was also named the
Sportsman of the Year in 1991. Jordan also had two reigns as the NBA’s
Slam Dunk Contest champion early in his career in 1987 and 1988 while
the Bulls were stacked with talents like Scottie Pippen (who would become
a Hall of Fame player in his own right), Bill Cartwright, Horace Grant and
John Paxson.
It was a dynasty that entertained a city which had not seen a championship
team that often. The most recent, at the time, being the 1985-1986 season
when the Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl XX in the National Football
League. Before that was the 1961 Stanley Cup win for the Blackhawks in
the National Hockey League. In Major League Baseball, the Cubs had a
championship drought since 1901. The White Sox did not do much better
since, at the time, their latest World Series trophy claim was in 1917.
At the age of 29, Jordan was hitting the peak of his NBA career and many
began to wonder whether the Bulls would ever be dethroned as NBA
Champions. The answer would come the next season, but not in the way
that anyone would have really predicted.
 Chapter 4: Baseball in Birmingham
One day, after the 1992-1993 NBA season and his third NBA championship
in a row, Jordan was driving by Comiskey Park – the baseball stadium on
the South Side of Chicago with Chicago Tribune columnist, Bob Greene,
the author of Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael Jordan. Jordan
indicated that he would soon be working there. It was a very interesting
announcement for the then three-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player
who had just finished a season where he averaged 39.3 points per game and
led the United States’ “Dream Team” men’s basketball squad to a gold
medal in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
However, it was not the first time a professional athlete would try to be a
two-sport athlete. NFL running back Bo Jackson played three years with the
Los Angeles Raiders from 1987-1990 after winning the Heisman Trophy at
Auburn University, rushing for 2,782 yards and 16 touchdowns. Jackson
also played for the Kansas City Royals (1986-1990) and the Chicago White
Sox (1991, 1993) for a career .250 batting average, with 141 home runs and
415 RBIs as an outfielder.
Deion Sanders was an eight-time All-Pro star in the National Football
League playing for five different teams in the NFL, most notably the Dallas
Cowboys, and collected more than 500 tackles, more than 50 interceptions,
and 22 touchdowns in 13 years. He also had a nine-year, part-time baseball
career after being drafted by the New York Yankees, which is considered by
many baseball fans as America’s team (much like the Cowboys in the
NFL). He made his MLB debut against the Seattle Mariners on May 31,
1989. Sanders would finish with a .263 batting average, with 39 home runs,
and 168 runs batted in.
So, if they were able to find some success in playing two sports, why
couldn’t someone with the caliber of Air Jordan do it? What else could
someone who wins three straight championships and MVP awards have to
prove?
Jordan did not appear for the Chicago Bulls at the start of the 1993-1994
season and the team finished with a decent record of 55-27, and second in
the NBA Central Division before losing to the New York Knicks, 87-77, in
the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. It was a team filled
with talent hoping to carry on the momentum of a three-peat with Scottie
Pippen, Toni Kukoc, Horace Grant, and Steve Kerr, a newcomer from the
Orlando Magic.
However, while the Bulls were hitting the home stretch in an attempt to
catch the Atlanta Hawks and Knicks at the top of the conference standings,
the man known as “Air Jordan” was spending practices and games at Ed
Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida, arriving just a few days before he
turned 31 years old. Jordan was not your typical rookie attending his first
spring hoping to land a spot on the 40-man roster for the six-month Major
League Baseball season. It was worth to note that Jordan had not played
organized baseball since he left the Laney High School team in March 1981
back in Wilmington, North Carolina. Regardless, Jordan kept the same
determination and work ethic that made him a three-time world champion
in basketball by coming in early and staying late each day.
There was definitely a buzz around Sarasota about the biggest name in
basketball playing baseball. Thousands of fans descended to the 8,500-seat
stadium. Crowds pressed up against the chain-link fence hoping to get an
autograph from Jordan, who did his best to make as many as happy as he
could. It was a weird feeling for someone who was the alpha male in the
NBA and now hoping just to play somewhere in the summer. Jordan had
struggles to reach first base safely. In fact, he was only able to do so after a
half-dozen games because of a fielder’s choice.
Nevertheless, Jordan found a place to play baseball that summer, but not at
Comiskey Park in the South Side like he had originally hoped. Nor did he
find himself selected to play the next level down at the Triple-A affiliate
with the Charlotte Knights, which was only a four-hour drive from the city
he grew up and started playing sports in. Instead, he was sent down to
Birmingham, Alabama to play for the Double-A Barons in the Southern
League. It was considered a “prospects league” for younger talent, another
reason why Jordan stood out among everyone that year as a 31-year-old
among teenagers and those in their early 20s.
Jordan did get a chance to play at Wrigley Field in an exhibition game
between the White Sox and the beloved Cubs, in front of 35,000 fans who
were there primarily to see their hero whom they followed down the road at
the Chicago Stadium, which was about to be closed in favor of the United
Center. While Jordan was not originally planned to start, he walked onto the
field in the first inning and finished hitting two-for-five with two runs
batted in. The game ended in a 4-4 tie after 10 innings where the fans gave
Jordan standing ovations for his play in right field and at the plate, which
was rare because, at the time, Chicago’s baseball fan base did not have a lot
to celebrate.
It was the only time that Jordan took Wrigley Field as a baseball player as
he went back to Birmingham, where he spent the entire season and played a
total of 127 games, 119 of which he was in the outfield. The baseball park
in southern Alabama was filled with thousands of fans throughout the
season, many of whom came from different parts of the country. Attendance
records and merchandise sales were obviously at all-time highs for not only
this team, but throughout minor league baseball nationally. However,
Jordan’s play on the field did not match the hype. He struck out seven times
in his first nine at-bats on the opening weekend at home. The two times he
did connect with the ball resulted to a pop fly and an easy ground out to the
infield.
There was an interesting rumor which came out of Birmingham that Jordan
bought an expensive new bus so the team could travel in luxury. While it
turned out to be not true, the team’s bus supplier did provide the Barons
with a deluxe bus with reclining chairs and a lounge in the back to help ease
the boredom of longer road trips between Nashville, Tennessee to Raleigh,
North Carolina, or; from Greenville, North Carolina to Orlando, Florida.
Over the last month of the season, Jordan batted .260 to lift his average to a
measly .202 in 436 at-bats and managed to only make 88 hits, including 17
doubles and a long triple. However, he was able to get 30 stolen bases and
cross the home plate 46 times. In terms of popular baseball statistics, the
common fan usually looks first at the player’s batting average. In the case
of Jordan, he only hit three home runs and had 51 RBIs while drawing 51
walks and striking out 114 times.
With the steady improvement, Jordan would earn a “promotion” by being
assigned to the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League, batting
.252 against some of the top prospects in professional baseball. While some
(including Barons’ manager Terry Francona, who would eventually lead the
Boston Red Sox to multiple World Series championships) viewed it as a
victory for Jordan, only a few White Sox executives felt the same way.
On November 1, 1994, Jordan’s #23 jersey was retired by the Bulls in a
ceremony that included the erection of a permanent sculpture known as The
Spirit outside the newly opened United Center. It is a bronze statue showing
Michael Jordan in his trademark slam dunk pose as seen on many Jordan
products like sneakers and clothing.
The 1994-1995 season did not start well for the Bulls as Horace Grant
decided to leave the team and sign with the Orlando Magic. Meanwhile,
Jordan was in Arizona and possibly being talked about playing at the
Triple-A level for the White Sox organization. However, the strike that
cancelled the end of the 1994 season was still not settled and the owners
were talking about using replacement players.
The Bulls needed help as they were hovering around the .500 win-loss mark
as they entered February and the final couple of months in the regular
season. Prior to spring training, Jordan talked to Jackson about coming back
and the two agreed to him playing 20 games with the Bulls while going
back to spring training prior to the 1995 MBL season. However, Jordan was
not to stay for long.
Major league players were not back and the players’ union created a rule,
which some call the Jordan Rule. The rule states that if a minor leaguer
played in a game where admission was charged, he would be considered a
strike breaker. The owners were pushing the White Sox to have Jordan play
exhibition games to retain some fan interest without the usual major league
stars. It was a predicament that Jordan felt was best to walk away from.
Thus, on March 3, 1995, Air Jordan left the baseball diamond and returned
to the hardwood in the NBA as a member of the Chicago Bulls.
 Chapter 5: Michael’s NBA Career Part II
Jordan’s return to the NBA was met with enthusiasm, not only by the Bulls’
faithful in Chicago, but also throughout the United States and globally.
Even then US President Bill Clinton made a joke during a press conference
about how he was pleased the unemployment rate in the nation was
improving by one with Jordan’s return to professional basketball. There
were local and national reports that tracked his return to practices with his
usual teammates whom he had not played with for more than a year.
Furthermore, instead of playing at Chicago Stadium, the Bulls now called
the United Center their home.
Entering the 1994-1995 season a little late, Jordan’s first game was on
March 19, 1995 resulted to an overtime loss and the Bulls fell, on the road,
to the Indiana Pacers 103-96. He had some struggles and made only 7 out of
28 field goals for 19 points along with six rebounds, six assists, and three
steals. It may be considered as the game where he shook off some of the
basketball rust after spending more than a year swinging a bat towards a
ball instead of trying to throw it into a basket.
Jordan scored 27 points to lead all scorers in Chicago’s 124-107 win on the
road against the Boston Celtics on March 22, 1995, shooting 9-of-17 from
the field. About a week later, Chicago was glad to have Jordan back,
especially during a 113-111 win over the New York Knicks where Jordan
scored 55 points in front of more than 19,000 fans at Madison Square
Garden in his fifth game after returning from his break from basketball.
Jordan went 21-for-37 from the field. It was a sign that he was finally
knocking the rust off and that “Air Jordan” was back.
While he only played 17 games in the regular season, Jordan’s numbers
looked similar to his other 14 seasons with an average of 39.0 points per
game, helping the Bulls win 12 of their last 14 games to finish with a record
of 47-35 to take third in the Central Division and fifth in the Eastern
Conference. Chicago would then win the best-of-five first round series
against the fourth-seeded Charlotte Hornets, including the April 28 game in
Charlotte where Jordan scored 48 points with nine rebounds and eight
assists in 47 minutes on the floor for a 108-100 overtime win.
Jordan would score 32 points in Game 2 (106-89 loss), 25 points in Game 3
(103-80 win), and 24 points in the series-clinching 85-84 win in Game 4.
However, Chicago would then have some struggles and lose to the Orlando
Magic 4-2 in the second round. However, Jordan would have highlight
games with 38 points in Game 2, 40 points in Game 3, and 39 points in
Game 5.
Although missing the NBA Finals, Jordan and the Bulls would return to
form with a record of 72 wins and only 10 losses. He led his entire team
with a total of 2,491 points in all 82 games to average 30.4 points per game
and shooting nearly 50% from the field, with 42.7% from behind the three-
point line. There were several games where he hit the 30-point and 40-point
marks multiple times. He even scored 53 in a home win against the Detroit
Pistons while collecting 11 rebounds, two assists, and six steals on defense.
Jordan was a player with a talented supporting cast that included Pippen,
who was in a way the second in command, with the addition of Steve Kerr,
Toni Kukoc, and Dennis Rodman. Rodman, known for styling his hair in
different colors and patterns, was a member of the Detroit Pistons during
the “Bad Boy” era that kept the Bulls from championships during Jordan’s
early years in the late 1980s.
It was the first of three seasons where Jordan would win the NBA scoring
title; it was also the beginning of another three-peat for Chicago. The Bulls
had a three-game sweep against the Miami Heat, which was followed by
taking four of five against the New York Knicks, and then sweeping the
Orlando Magic. Although it took six games, the Bulls were able to defeat
the Seattle Supersonics where Jordan averaged 27.3 points. His highlight
game of the series that led to winning the MVP award was Chicago’s Game
3 victory 108-86 on June 9, 1996, at Seattle’s Key Arena. Jordan scored 36
points along with five assists, three rebounds, and two steals.
The Bulls won 69 games the next season and Jordan would average 29.6
points over the entire 82-game regular season and would once again win the
NBA scoring title. There were two games when Jordan scored 50+ points.
The first was on November 6, 1997 at Miami with 50 points, six rebounds,
a steal, and a block. He would top that performance on January 21, 1997 at
home against the New York Knicks with 51 points out of 18-of-30 field
goals, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Entering the 1997 NBA playoffs, Jordan scored 55 points against the
Washington Bullets with seven rebounds, shooting 22-of-35 from the field,
and a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line. However, his biggest game of the
season was one where he did not get past the 40- or 50-point landmark.
Jordan’s intensity shone in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz
on June 11, 1997, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
In a game noted by NBA experts as “the Flu Game,” Jordan was playing
with a diagnosed stomach virus and it was easily visible both to fans in
attendance and on live television. Despite showing obvious signs of being
ill and fatigued, he was not going to let a little sick bug stop him from
gaining the crucial 3-2 series lead by defeating the Jazz 90-88. Jordan
finished with a statistic line of 38 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three
steals, and one block while playing 44 of the game’s 48 minutes. After a
strong win with a Hall of Fame performance from someone not even 100%
healthy, the Bulls used the momentum to close out the series with Utah in
the sixth game with a 90-86 win at the United Center when Jordan finished
with a double-double of 39 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan won the NBA
Finals MVP award for the second consecutive year.
That momentum built for another run to three straight NBA Championships
as the Bulls were once again on top of the Central Division and Eastern
Conference with a 62-20 record in the 1997-1998 NBA season. For the
third consecutive season, Jordan started all 82 games during the regular
season with averages of 28.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 steals
per game. The Bulls would make quick work of their Eastern Conference
playoff matchups and swept the New Jersey Nets in three games in the first
round and defeated the Charlotte Hornets 4-1.
The Indiana Pacers, led by Reggie Miller, gave Chicago some fits, forcing a
full seven games before the Bulls win the Eastern Conference
Championship. Jordan scored well in the seven-game series with 31 points,
41 points, 30 points, 28 points, 29 points, 35 points, and 28 points
respectively. His momentum continued against his friends, John Stockton
and Karl Malone from the “Dream Team,” with Chicago getting the upper
hand on the Utah Jazz, like the previous year, 4-2.
Jordan had only one rebound and one assist with a 42.9 field goal
percentage in a Game 6 win of 87-86. He was able to cut Utah’s lead to one
point with less than a minute left. Jordan then caused a turnover by taking
the ball from Malone’s hands and scored with 5.2 seconds left in the game.
The Jazz were unable to respond as they missed their last shot. Jordan
scored 45 points to give the Bulls their sixth championship in eight seasons
and inarguably solidified Jordan as the greatest player in NBA history with
a sixth NBA Finals MVP to go along with winning all of his other trophies
and titles.
Just like the end of the first three-peat, it felt as though things would change
in Chicago. Head coach Phil Jackson’s contract was expiring and there were
expected departures by Scottie Pippen (trade) and Dennis Rodman (signing
with the Los Angeles Lakers). The NBA was also entering the final stages
of an owner-induced lockout of the players. All of these factors led to
Jordan’s second retirement on January 13, 1999. One year later, Jordan
became part owner and President of Basketball Operations for the
Washington Wizards.
In the meantime, the Bulls would finish 13-37 in the lockout shortened
season under new head coach, Tim Floyd, leading a team which featured
only a few familiar names from the year before – Toni Kukoc, Bill
Wennington, and Ron Harper. Things were not much better the next season
as the Bulls won only 17 games in the 1999-2000 season and would not
have a winning season until finishing 47-35 in the 2004-2005 season. The
Bulls have not won an NBA Championship since Jordan’s second three-
peat, much like how the franchise had not won any championships prior to
the first three-peat.
Jordan did not make a return to the Chicago Bulls as he was happy moving
on to the District of Columbia. Having six titles, six NBA Finals MVP
awards, 11 selections to the NBA All-Star Game, and five regular season
MVP awards during 13 seasons in the red, black, and white uniforms, it felt
like it was a perfect time to hang up the basketball shorts for good and end
his career on top.
However, if there’s one thing we have learned about “His Airness”, it is that
you cannot fully predict what Jordan is going to do next nor can you really
know if he will completely retire.
Chapter 6: Michael’s NBA Career Part III
Some of the best athletes in professional sports find their way into
becoming coaches or front office staff for teams they used to play for. But
in Jordan’s case, he wanted to become a partial owner and be involved in
some form of decision making role in the NBA. Therefore, his comeback to
the league started in a suit and not in a basketball uniform – at least not
right away.
When Jordan returned to the NBA on January 19, 2000, he became part
owner and President of Basketball Operations of the Washington Wizards.
His responsibilities included decisions on player personnel like drafting
rookie players and handling both current players who might be entering the
free agent market and those already seeking a possible new team to replace
the ones who are exiting.
Opinions with regards to Jordan as a basketball executive were mixed. He
managed to release several highly paid players who were not living up to
their expected standard, like sending Juwan Howard, Obinna Ekezie, and
Calvin Booth to the Dallas Mavericks for Hubert Davis, Courtney
Alexander, Christian Laettner, Loy Vaught, and Etan Thomas with $3
million thrown in. However, Jordan’s first pick in the 2001 NBA Draft was
high school star, Kwame Brown, who struggled in his own right and was
traded by the Wizards after only four seasons.
Despite his claim in January 1999 that he was 99.9 percent certain he would
never play another NBA game again, he expressed interest in making
another comeback in the summer of 2001. The difference this time is he
would not be wearing the red and black of the Chicago Bulls. Instead, he
wore the blue and gold of the Wizards. It was a similar situation to Mario
Lemieux in the National Hockey League the previous winter as a
player/owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Wizards were more than happy to have someone with the Hall of Fame
caliber, which Jordan brought with his time from Chicago – six
championships and six NBA Finals MVP awards to be exact. Washington
finished the 2000-2001 season with a record of 19-63. After which, Leonard
Hamilton was fired after only one season. Howard was traded away to
Dallas for his poor performance, averaging only 12.9 points per game after
54 appearances before going to Dallas. There was talent waiting to support
Jordan in his third run in the NBA, including Richard Hamilton, who
gained more starting time after averaging 18 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.9
assists, and one steal per game.
Jordan spent plenty of time in the off-season before the 2001-2002 season
in training and hosting several invitation-only camps with other players in
Chicago. He also made the decision to hire Doug Collins as the Wizards
coach for the 2001-2002 season. He was the former head coach of the Bulls
during Jordan’s early years in the NBA. All of those were signs of his third
run in the league, which he announced on September 25, 2001. He also
stated that he would donate his salary as an active player to a relief effort
for the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Jordan took the court with the familiar 23 as his jersey number despite the
different colors on October 30, 2001 with 19 points, five rebounds, six
assists, and four steals in a losing effort to the New York Knicks, 93-91. A
few days later, Jordan would score 31 on the road against the Atlanta
Hawks, nearly getting a double-double with nine assists.
Jordan’s first double-double came during a home game win, 99-84, against
the Seattle Supersonics on November 11 with 16 points and 12 rebounds. It
was one of eight double-doubles total for Jordan who would finish the
regular season with averages of 22.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists
per game. One part of Jordan’s game that struggled in his first season with
the Wizards was the three-point shooting, not making a shot behind the arc
until the Wizards’ November 16 game hosting the Utah Jazz where he
scored 44 points.
There were good games and bad games for Jordan this time around.
Coming off the worst game of his career where he scored a career-low six
points against the Indiana Pacers a few nights prior and ending a streak of
866 games of 10 points or more, Jordan scored 51 points and set franchise
record with 24 first-quarter points and 34 points in halftime in a 107-90
victory over the Hornets at the MCI Center in DC. Jordan made 21-of-38
field goals, 9-of-10 from the free throw line. He also collected seven
rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes on the floor.
It was his 39th regular season 50-point game and his first since scoring 55
points for Chicago in a playoff game against Washington. Jordan moved to
the right around Charlotte’s Jamaal Magloire, hung in the air for an
extended period of time and hit a 14-footer off the glass while drawing the
foul. This was a sign that he still had some skills left for an older veteran. It
was one of those games where Jordan did not show his age. Unfortunately,
his season ended after only 60 games due to torn cartilage in his right knee.
It was the fewest number of games he played since entering the 1994-1995
season late from his first retirement (17 games).
The Wizards improved their record to 37-45 in 2001-2002 after only 19
wins in the previous season. Yet the team failed to advance to the NBA
playoffs, finishing five games behind the Indiana Pacers for the eighth spot
in the Eastern Conference standings. It was the first season Jordan where he
missed the playoffs, an ending that felt foreign to the now Hall of Fame
player. Even during the earliest years with the Bulls, they would at least
qualify for the first round.
At the end of the 2001-2002 season, Jordan had one 50-point game, along
with four games where he had at least 40 points, another 11 games hitting
the 30-point mark, 20 at the 20-point mark, and another 19 where he scored
double figures. However, there were five games where he failed to score at
least 10 points.
It was also the first time that Jordan failed to start a game – a streak also
dated back to the 1986-87 season where he started all 82 games and the 742
appearances as a Chicago Bull. He started all 17 games he was able to play
in his return to the Chicago Bulls in the 1994-1995 season before starting
all 82 games in each of his final three seasons with the Bulls from 1995 to
1998.
In the 2002-2003 season, Jordan would once again play in all 82 games and
started 67 of them. He was the only Washington Wizard to do so that
season. Despite turning 40 years old in that season, Jordan had averages of
20 points per game, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals. He scored 20
or more points in 42 games, passed the 30-point mark nine times, and the
40-point mark three times. On February 21, 2003, Jordan became the first
40-year-old to have more than 40 points in a game (43) in an NBA game
during the Wizards’ 89-86 win over the New Jersey Nets. One of his best
games of the season was when the Wizards defeated the Pacers, 107-104.
on January 4, 2003 when Jordan scored 41 points and 12 rebounds for a
double-double along with four assists and three steals.
On February, 2003, Jordan would be selected to his 14th and final NBA All-
Star Game played on February 9, 2003 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. It
was then that he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leading scorer
in the event’s history after scoring 20 points as the East lost to the West
155-145 in a double overtime. During his career, Jordan would score 262
points over his 14 All-Star Game appearances, which has since been
surpassed twice. Los Angeles Lakers’ star Kobe Bryant currently has 280,
while LeBron James is second with 278 to put Jordan into third place on the
all-time All-Star standings.
Jordan’s final game was on April 16, 2003 in Philadelphia where he only
scored 13 points and went to the bench with a little more than four minutes
left in the third quarter with the team trailing by one. At the beginning of
the final quarter, the crowd began to chant “We want Mike!” They were
able to talk Collins, the head coach, to allow him to re-enter the game with
2:35 remaining. When Jordan returned to the bench after a few minutes, he
received a standing ovation from everyone in the stands and the court –
more than 21,000 in total.
It was a year of tributes for Jordan, who recognized publicly that it would
be his final season in the NBA – this time, it really was his last season. He
received a long standing ovation on January 24 at his former home court in
Chicago’s United Center – a game where Jordan only scored 11 points in a
104-97 loss. While his #23 jersey was retired by the Chicago Bulls, the
Miami Heat also retired their #23 jersey on April 11 before the Wizards
would take the 91-87 victory where Jordan led all players with 25 points.
During his final run in the NBA, Jordan attracted thousands of fans at
home, averaging more than 20,000 at the MCI Center in DC and more than
19,000 at any given arena across the country. The Wizards were the second
most watched team in the NBA despite Jordan not being able to take
Washington to the playoffs, something he was able to do in each of his 13
seasons in Chicago.
 Chapter 7: Olympic Gold Standard
In 1891, basketball was created in America at a YMCA in Springfield,
Massachusetts by Dr. James Naismith, a native of Almonte, Canada. So, it
makes sense that the United States currently stands on top of the
International Basketball Federation’s (FIBA) global rankings with 14 golds,
two bronzes, and one silver – which they refused to accept after a
controversial 51-50 loss to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR),
currently known as Russia.
While Jordan collected several NBA Championships in his career, along
with one NCAA title with the North Carolina Tar Heels, Jordan also holds
two gold medals from the Summer Olympics, the first coming in the
summer after his junior year at North Carolina as one of several collegiate
programs across the state and as one of the last amateur teams for the
United States Men’s Olympic basketball program to win a gold medal.
While they were considered amateur collegiate athletes at the time leading
up to 1984, the team was composed of some of the greatest players during
that era – seven-foot Patrick Ewing from Georgetown University, Jordan’s
UNC teammate Sam Perkins, and Alvin Robertson from the University of
Arkansas. In the trials in April of that year at Indiana University in
Bloomington, Indiana, Jordan was considered one of the top two performers
along with Auburn junior, Charles Barkley – who ended up being one of the
last cuts due to his personality not meshing with head coach, Bob Knight, of
Indiana. Players who made the cut included John Stockton and Terry Porter,
both of whom moved on to great NBA careers of their own.
The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, however, was not Jordan’s
first taste of international basketball competition. After his freshman season
at North Carolina, Jordan was a member of the USA Amateur Team that
would have a small European Tour that started with two losses to the
Europe All-Stars on June 18, 1982 (111-92), and on June 20, 1982 (103-88).
After that, the US team would win two out of three against the national
team from Yugoslavia between the days of June 23 and June 27 of that
same year.
A little more than a year later, Jordan was part of the US national team that
competed in the 1983 Pan American Games that began in August 1983 in
Caracas, Venezuela. The Americans would go undefeated and Jordan would
score in double digits in all but one game against Venezuela (nine points) on
August 20, 1983 in a 78-65 win. Jordan’s highlights included scoring 27
points against Brazil in a 72-69 win on August 16, 1983, and 24 points in
the team’s 88-68 win over Argentina on August 25, 1983.
Fast forward to the time the US team went to Los Angeles as the home-
country favorite for the Summer Olympics and went undefeated in the
tournament, the team averaged 95.4 points per game and kept their
opponents to a 63.3 average. Jordan led Team USA with 17.1 points per
game average, followed by Chris Mullin (11.6), Ewing (11.0), and Steve
Alford (10.3). Jordan also averaged one and a half steals per game – three
against Uruguay on August 1, 1984, two against France on August 3, 1984
and against Spain on August 4, 1984, and another three in the gold medal
game, which provided a rematch against Spain on August 10, 1984.
USA started with a 97-49 blowout win over China where Jordan would
score 14 points by converting five out of eight field goals on July 29, 1984.
The young Jordan would follow up that performance with 20 points off 10
out of 17 field goals as the US defeated Canada, 89-68, in one of their
closest games on July 31, 1984. After three blowout wins over Uruguay
(104-68), France (120-62), and Spain (101-68), USA held off a tough team
from West Germany, 78-67, in the quarterfinal round on August 6, 1984 – a
game where Jordan scored 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, and one
steal. Jordan would score another 13 points with another four rebounds,
three assists, and one steal in the 78-59 semifinal win against Canada on
August 8, 1984.
In the gold medal game, Jordan led all players with 20 points after shooting
9 out of 15 from the field while collecting two assists, and three steals in a
96-65 win for USA over Spain on August 10, 1984. It is highly likely that
the performance in the 1984 Olympics may have helped improve Jordan’s
value in the upcoming NBA Draft. At the end of the day, he was selected
third overall by the Chicago Bulls and went on to establish himself as the
league’s next young phenomenon.
Jordan and others would not return to the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul,
South Korea, because the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) did
not have the rules in place to allow professional basketball players from the
NBA and other smaller leagues around the world to represent their country.
The next Olympic squad for USA men’s basketball would still feature
college all-stars and one of the lone teams that had no NBA stars. Led by
Georgetown head coach, John Thompson, the team finished 7-1 but was
defeated by the USSR, 82-76. USA would bounce back and win the bronze
medal against Australia, 78-49.
Not winning the gold, or at least not being in the gold medal game, brought
some changes for Team USA. There were increased calls to allow
professionals to play for their countries, a move that Borislav Stanković of
FIBA had lobbied for years. It was finally passed by a vote amongst all
members of the organization in 1989 – although the USA and Russia voted
against the proposal. USA Basketball had some concerns from NBA
officials when requested to supply players for the 1992 roster because no
one really imagined the cultural phenomenon which the team was about to
become. The 1988 Summer Olympic Games was the last time the men’s
team did not feature current NBA players and in preparation of the 1992
Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, the “Dream Team” was formed.
On September 21, 1991, the initial roster was announced. It included Jordan
and Bulls teammate, Scottie Pippen; Karl Malone and John Stockton of the
Utah Jazz; Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers; Larry Bird of the
Boston Celtics, and; Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers. The one
returning star from the 1988 squad was David Robinson, who was at the US
Naval Academy back then and was now a member of the San Antonio
Spurs.
With that amount of star power on one roster, the team seemed like an
unofficial NBA All-Star squad and was known as the Dream Team that
American sports journalists consider as the greatest sports team ever
assembled. The team also attracted several corporate sponsors, including
McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and Kellogg’s, who wanted to use the team in
their advertisements. However, many had to be turned away.
Johnson was forced to quit the squad after learning he was positive for HIV
in November 1991 and the vacant spot became a competition between
Isaiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons and Clyde Drexler of the Portland
Trail Blazers. Drexler was added in May 12, 1992, along with Christian
Laettner of Duke University.
There were some bumps on the road to Barcelona as they lost in a
scrimmage game on June 24, 1992 against an all-star team of college
basketball’s best, which included Bobby Hurley, Chris Webber, Grant Hill,
and Penny Hardaway (the latter two would eventually join Team USA for
the 1996 Olympics). After losing 62-54, Team USA head coach, Chuck
Daly, began to limit Jordan’s playing time and made other substitutions
after underestimating the opposition. Later on, assistant coach, Mike
Krzyzewski, commented that the head coach threw the game in an effort to
teach the NBA players that they were not unstoppable.
Team USA’s international debut at the 1992 Tournament of the Americas,
now known as the FIBA Americas Championships was from June 27 to
July 5 at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. USA swept group
play with easy victories, including a 136-57 win over Cuba on June 28.
Amazingly, Jordan only scored six points, second lowest to Barkley’s four,
showing the true depth of the Dream Team. With the undefeated record,
USA would go straight to the semifinals where they defeated Puerto Rico
119-81. USA then defeated Venezuela 127-80.
It was no surprise when USA would have similar success in the Olympics,
where they went undefeated, much like the 1988 gold medal team. The
younger Jordan really stepped on his defensive play e in his career, both in
the NBA and in Olympic competitions. In USA’s first game against Angola
on July 26, Jordan had eight steals as the “Dream Team” had 10 players
combined for 30 steals – probably the main reason why Angola scored only
48 points in a 116-48 win on July 26 1992. Jordan had five steals in USA’s
122-81 win over Spain on August 2, 1992 and another six in the 127-76 win
over Lithuania on August 6, 1992 in the semifinals to go along with his 21
points after making 9 out of 18 from the field.
Jordan even had a double-double with 15 points and 12 assists in their 111-
68 win against Germany back on July 29, 1992 along with four steals and
two blocks on the defensive side of the ball. He would lead USA with 22
points in the gold medal game in a 117-85 victory over Croatia on August
8, 1992 – Jordan earned his points by converting 10 out of 14 field goals in
the game. He also collected two more steals. Team USA was not only one
of the more dominant teams in sports but one of the most iconic.
Eventually, the team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame in 2010.
While winning a gold medal after his first two NBA championships, Jordan
told the media that the biggest benefit for him was learning the weaknesses
of his teammates – just in time for the start of the 1992-1993 NBA season.
Not that he needed the extra scouting report because he would win that
championship as well against Barkley and would later on defeat teammates
Malone and Stockton in back-to-back NBA Finals with the Bulls topping
the Jazz.
In addition to his impact in the NBA, Jordan’s impact as a member of the
“Dream Team” would help develop the NBA’s global popularity with so
much interest at the games in Barcelona – subsequently increasing the
number of international players in the league. At the beginning of the 1991-
1992 season, NBA rosters included 23 players from 18 countries outside the
USA. As a matter of fact, as of just a few years ago, there were 74 players
from 35 countries.
USA Basketball has also attracted some of the best talents from the NBA
since the “Dream Team” as the team would collect four gold medals (1996,
2000, 2008, and 2012) and one bronze medal (2004). Many of today’s stars
include Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, John Wall, and DeMarcus Cousins.
Other stars that have put on the red, white, and blue include Dwayne Wade,
Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and LeBron James.
 Chapter 8: Michael Jordan’s Legacy and
Future
After 15 years of playing in the NBA under three different runs between
two teams, Jordan’s tenure with the Wizards was over and not just on the
court. Because of the earlier mentioned mixed results at the front office
with the trade of Richard Hamilton for Jerry Stackhouse, Jordan was fired
on May 7as the President of Basketball Operations by team owner, Abe
Pollin. In the next couple of years, Jordan would keep himself busy in a
number of ways through celebrity golf tournaments, his own clothing line,
and even owning a professional motorcycle racing team in the American
Motorcyclist Association. However in 2006, Jordan would buy a minority
stake in the Charlotte Bobcats and took control of the basketball operations
as the Managing Member of Basketball Operations. Jordan would
eventually become the majority owner of the Bobcats with his group, MJ
Basketball Holdings, making him the first ever former player to be a
majority owner of an NBA team.
In the 2013-2014 season, the Jordan-owned Bobcats had their best record in
franchise history with a 43-39 record that earned a playoff spot but was
swept in four games by the Miami Heat. Since then, he has helped his home
state’s top professional team get their original name when the New Orleans
Hornets became the Pelicans for the 2013-2014 season. The Pelicans, now,
were originally the Charlotte Hornets before a move from North Carolina to
Louisiana in 2002. Jordan helped get the NBA to approve and allow
Charlotte to reclaim their name and their records from 1988 to 2002. Long-
time basketball fans in the Charlotte area were excited to break out their
older purple and teal attire from the 1980s and 1990s.
While there have been ups and downs in his career as a team owner and
President, Jordan will always be regarded by many basketball experts as
one of, if not the greatest, to ever step onto the hardwood. It is not often that
the city of Chicago would immortalize an athlete outside a stadium with a
bronze statue with an iconic pose from their career. But that’s what Jordan’s
accomplishments have meant to the Windy City, which also has special
places for other sports figures, like Walter Payton and Mike Ditka of the
Chicago Bears, and famous baseball players, Ernie Banks and Ron Santo,
for the Chicago Cubs. Chicago is truly a city that embraces the fact that
they have some of the best players in their respective sports. Jordan is their
legend in basketball, who brought six championships in a single decade –a
feat that only a few athletes and organizations were able to accomplish.
Jordan’s career numbers include 32,292 points, which is fourth all-time
behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928), and Kobe
Bryant (32,482). Jordan even surpassed Wilt Chamberlain, known for his
100-point performance on May 2, 1962 as a member of the Philadelphia
Warriors in a 169-147 win over the New York Knicks. In his 15-year career,
Jordan also collected 6,672 rebounds, 5,633 assists, 2,514 steals, and 893
blocks on defense.
In addition to holding six NBA championships and NBA Finals Most
Valuable Player awards (1991-93, 1996-98), Jordan ended his career with
being selected to the All-NBA First Team 10 times from 1987 to 1993 and
1996 to 1998 along with one Second Team selection in 1985. Because of his
ability to take away the ball while also scoring, Jordan was a nine-time All-
Defensive First Team player (1988-1993, 1996-98). In his 14 All-Star Game
appearances, he won the game’s MVP award three times in 1988, 1996, and
1998. In addition, he had two Olympic gold medals from 1984 and 1992.
However, Jordan’s legacy went beyond the basketball court. One of the
biggest was a marketing move by Nike, which gave Jordan his own line of
shoes. In one of the earliest commercials from the 1980s, movie director
and producer, Spike Lee, once said in one of the earliest commercials for
Nike’s Air Jordan sneakers, “It’s gotta be the shoes,” when talking about
Jordan’s advanced skills on the basketball court.
Shortly after being drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984, Jordan partnered
with Nike for a five-year deal worth $500,000 annually, plus royalties. In
the 1980s and 1990s, the sneakers, which featured a silhouette of Jordan’s
famous slam dunk from the free throw line, became a must-own for
basketball players and anyone who watched basketball. Nike has a division
called the Jordan Brand and his current deal with the shoe company
generates more than $60 million in royalties alone. Jordan’s shoes are still a
top seller in shoe stores today, competing regularly with LeBron James’
shoes.
In addition to sneakers and highlights on the basketball court, many who
grew up in the1990s would recall the movie, Space Jam, which combined
the greatest basketball player with Looney Toons stars like Bugs Bunny,
Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Tweety Bird. The film hit theaters in 1996 and
featured cameo appearances from actor, Bill Murray, and other NBA talents
like Muggsy Bogues, Patrick Ewing, Shawn Bradley, Larry Johnson, Danny
Ainge, and fellow Hall of Fame star, Larry Bird. The movie might not have
had a fun rating, but the story was pretty fun when you consider Jordan
helping the cartoon icons from becoming prisoners of an intergalactic theme
park by winning a game of basketball. It also included a fictional portrayal
of Jordan’s struggles as a baseball player.
The movie was not the first time Jordan earned credits as an actor.
According to the Internet Movie Database, Jordan starred in the November
17, 1990 episode of Almost Live, a sketch comedy show based in Seattle,
Washington. He also hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1991 and
has appeared as a guest for several talk show hosts including Oprah
Winfrey, Jay Leno, and Rosie O’Donnell.
If you are a child from that decade, odds are that the song with the same
name by the Quad City DJs is stuck in your head. Speaking of music,
Jordan was also referenced in the song Jam by Michael Jackson, where the
music video shows Jackson teaching Jordan how to dance while Jordan
teaches Jackson how to play basketball.
While today’s NBA stars are making similar strides, like LeBron James, the
jury is still out as the heated discussions about who is better between “The
King” and “His Airness.” Sharing the iconic number 23 with the Cleveland
Cavaliers, James wore number 6 as a member of the Miami Heat for four
years. Since entering the NBA at the age of 19 in 2003, James has averaged
27.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game over 12 professional
seasons. Like Bryant, he came to the NBA straight out of high school, so
there is the possibility that he will have a longer career than Jordan did.
James is already an 11-time NBA All-Star with four NBA MVP awards, but
only has two NBA Championships. There’s actually more of an argument
for someone like Kobe Bryant to be compared to Jordan as the Lakers star
currently has an average of 25.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per
game over 18 years in the NBA. Bryant also has five NBA championships
of his own (2000-2002, 2009-2010). It could also be players in the past, like
Wilt Chamberlin or Larry Bird.
Regardless of all-time rankings, very few have ever had their own line of
shoes, multiple three-peat performances, and a blockbuster movie like
Jordan has under his belt. Even Jordan has had fun with the conversations,
but at the age of 52, there is likely no chance that we will see him take the
court against someone like Bryant or James in a one-on-one pick-up game.
While it is highly unlikely to take place in actual reality, it couldn’t be said
that people haven’t used video games and other forms of virtual reality to
simulate the possibility. Most NBA games have Jordan as a secret character
available to unlock and made available to place in several potential fantasy
matchups which today’s basketball fanatic dream of.
We may never see another athlete with a list of accomplishments quite like
Jordan, a list that could always grow, especially if the Jordan-owned
Charlotte Hornets can win a championship of their own.

Final Word/About the Author

I was born and raised in Norwalk, Connecticut. Growing up, I could often
be found spending many nights watching basketball, soccer, and football
matches with my father in the family living room. I love sports and
everything that sports can embody. I believe that sports are one of most
genuine forms of competition, heart, and determination. I write my works to
learn more about influential athletes in the hopes that from my writing, you
the reader can walk away inspired to put in an equal if not greater amount
of hard work and perseverance to pursue your goals. If you enjoyed
Michael Jordan: The Inspiring Story of One of Basketball’s Greatest
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References
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<http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/columns/story?id=4457017>.
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<http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/columns/story?
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greatness-michael-jordans-freshman-year/34289 >.
7. Lake, Thomas. “Did This Man Really Cut Michael Jordan?” 16 Jan.
2012. Web. <http://www.si.com/vault/2012/01/16/106149626/did-this-
man-really-cut-michael-jordan>.
 8. M, Daniel. “Michael Jordan: The 10 Greatest Games of His Airness.”
17 Feb. 2012. Web. <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1069931-
michael-jordan-the-10-greatest-games-of-his-airness>.
9. Nathan, Alec. “23 Things Michael Jordan Gave to NBA Fans.” 1 Aug.
2013. Web. <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1719350-23-things-
michael-jordan-gave-to-nba-fans/page/2>.
10. Lee, Michael. “Michael Jordan’s Tenure with the Washington Wizards
Has Been Mostly Forgotten as He Prepares for Induction into the
Basketball Hall of Fame.” 9 Sept. 2009. Web.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/09/08/AR2009090803277.html>.